The internet and the associated networks used by a consumer/consumer device to access a digital service as shown in FIG. 1 are well known. The internet allows different pieces of content/data required for a digital service to work to be delivered to a device, using a last mile network, like the smartphone shown in FIG. 1. The Internet shown in FIG. 1 is the combination of all physical units distributed across the globe that house all the information in the world. The internet data center is a series of distributed physical units that house all the networking and computing equipment, including redundant and backup components, infrastructure for power supply, data communications connections, environmental controls and various security devices. The CDN infrastructure is a geographically distributed network of servers that are housed in the Internet data center that serve most of the internet content today, especially web objects (text, graphics, scripts), downloadable objects (media files, software, documents), applications, live streaming media, on-demand streaming media and social media whose architecture is well known and whose operation is also known. The Internet, along with the Internet Data Center and the CDN Infrastructure is together termed as the Internet Infrastructure. A Digital Service Provider includes all individuals/companies/entities that use the Internet infrastructure to provide a service to consumers. The consumer Platform is/are mobile apps/websites/any interface through which a user accesses the service of a Digital Service Provider. The telecom Infra is an infrastructure setup by telecom companies that uses licensed wireless frequencies for access to the internet (2G/3G/4G/LTE—collectively, cellular data connections) and the Wi-Fi Infra is the infrastructure setup by Internet service providers to provide broadband/leased line connectivity to access internet or to which Access point's can be attached to access internet wirelessly using unlicensed frequency.
Using the conventional system shown in FIG. 1, the Service (Mobile App) shown in FIG. 1 works in the following manner. All information made available by a Digital Service Provider is stored/served either through server/s hosted by the Digital Service Provider or through a CDN. Based on data access patterns (what data is being consumed where), the CDN infrastructure caches certain data (a subset of all information) across multiple servers distributed across geographies. The CDN Edge servers (EDGE1, . . . , EDGEn in FIG. 1) are distributed globally and placed inside third party Internet Data Centers distributed globally and data centers operated by Internet Service Providers and Telecom service providers. When a consumer needs access to server/s hosted by the Digital Service Provider and the CDN (either via an Internet Service Provider or a Telecom service provider), the consumer needs to access the service over a “last mile” which is the data connection between the consumer (the smartphone device for example in FIG. 1) and the Internet Infrastructure. The experience of the consumer using the Service is dependent on the availability, the reliability and the throughput available on the last mile. More importantly, as the number of users and the data consumption per user increases, the load on the existing Internet Infrastructure, increases exponentially, affecting the experience of the user in densely concentrated areas.
Using a current convention system, accessing the service occurs in the following manner. An operating system (OS) of the smartphone of the consumer (see FIG. 1) detects the availability of connectivity over a cellular data connection (such as 4G/LTE as shown in FIG. 1) or Wi-Fi. If connectivity is available using only one module, the OS uses the available connectivity route. If both connectivity options are available, the OS detects which connection offers more stable and faster bandwidth availability and uses that connection to transact data packets, with priority assigned to Wi-Fi. If the above scenario changes at any point, the OS automatically shifts between the two, unless the user manually connects or disconnects from either of the two available options. From the perspective of the Service that the user is using, the Digital Service Provider or the user has no control over which connectivity route is used or when to switch from one to the other since that control and switching are device based, controlled by the OS running on the device.
Thus, existing systems have the technical problem that the data/service access over the last mile cannot be managed by a digital service provider based on the nature of the service and the amount of data that needs to be transacted or by the user who is experiencing the service and/or bearing the cost of last mile connectivity. Thus, it is desirable to be able to provide a technical solution that provides the digital service provider and the user with control over the connectivity route for the last mile and the ability to control the switching between the connectivity routes thus optimizing the consumer experience of the service being provided to the consumer and manage the cost borne by the consumer to access that service based on the consumer's preference.